Homily for February 23-24, 2008

Father Tom’s Homily
3rd Sunday of Lent
February 24, 2008

In the first chapter of John’s gospel, Jesus speaks to us with the words, “Come and see.” With these words we are invited into a deeper faith in him.
In the second chapter we accompany Jesus and his disciples to a wedding feast of Cana. As was the custom of Jewish wedding celebrations, Jesus joined with all the guests in the music and dancing. We were among those guests. Jesus changed the water into wine and our ordinary lives into a dancing celebration of our wedded relationship with God.

In the third chapter of John’s gospel we sat late into the night with Nicodemus, a leader among the Jews, who came also to see who Jesus really was.
Jesus told Nicodemus and us that he was sent by the Father, not to condemn the world, but to save it.

We have just listened to the fourth chapter in which we witness Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman at the town well. We note the contrast of this story with the Nicodemus story. While he, a religious Pharisee, came to listen to Jesus during the night, this woman is a heretic who meets with Jesus in the middle of the day.
Jesus engages in a monologue with Nicodemus, an uncomprehending religious scholar. In contrast the woman questions, objects and challenges Jesus until she realizes – aha, he is the Messiah. At this she excitedly runs into the town to bring the good news to other.
It’s a beautiful story about how Jesus can change our lives.

It’s also a wedding story, following up on the wedding feast of Cana. Like to the changing of water into wine, Jesus the guest becomes Jesus the Messiah who is our bridegroom. “Come and see” leads to this discovery.
The meeting of Jesus and the woman at the well is more than a conversation. It is a wooing, a courtship by Jesus, our bridegroom.
In ancient times, the town well was the place where young men and women met. It was a place of courtship. The well of today’s story was called Jacob’s well. It was the place where Jacob met Rachel who became his wife. There are other stories in the scripture of courtship at a well.

In this “Come and see” story, we discover Jesus’ complete openness to people, even to this outsider. Jews avoided the Samaritans because they were heretics. Contact with them would make one unclean.
And more than that, she was a scandal within her town. It was customary for all the women came to the well at dawn when it was cool. There they would draw water for their use during the day and trade stories and gossip.
A favorite item of gossip was this woman who was the talk of the town. She had a very troubled family life. She had been married and divorces five times. People avoided her.

But not Jesus who understood her predicament. Jesus does not hesitate to talk with her. Their conversation leads her to faith in Jesus as the Messiah.
Hosea, the prophet, compares our relationship with God to a marriage. In this sense, the wooing at the well leads to her accepting the hand of Jesus in spiritual marriage.
And such an unlikely partner she is for the Messiah. But in the context of the gospel stories, a familiar one. Jesus reached out in a special way to the poor, the lonely, and the unwanted – inviting all into a loving relationship of faith. This woman was one of them.

Clare Guest House is a place in Sioux City, Iowa that offers hospitality and support to women who are released from prison. Sister Gwen Hennessey, a Franciscan Sister, manages this house.
Seven years ago, Sister Gwen herself was in the Federal prison in Pekin for six months along with her older sister Dorothy, also a Franciscan Sister. They were there for their actions against the School of the Americas at Fort Benning in Georgia. It has been well documented that this is a school that teaches terrorism to soldiers from Latin America.

Sister Gwen understands the special difficulties that women face after prison. A significant difficulty is their loss of self esteem and unworthiness in the eyes of others after several years of prison life.
Most women have been sent to prison for the possession and use of illegal drugs. They often leave prison with little pride in themselves and little hope for a better future.
Today’s gospel story is good news for such women and anyone who is depressed because of the rejection and scorn of others.
Jesus’ friendly conversation with a scandalous woman sends out the word that Jesus rejects no one. He courts the lowly, the riffraff, all sinners.

Here we see Jesus’ great flaw, his weakness, his vulnerability. It was his complete openness to people, whatever their reputation, whatever their unworthiness, however inappropriate.
This got him into trouble with the religious leaders and the pious. But the crowds loved him for it.

Jesus, the bridegroom, responds with his heart and not from any prejudices. At the town well, in the market places, in the streets, in their homes, in our hearts.
He liked people and liked to be with them. He started conversations to break silences and made the outsiders and sinners comfortable in his presence.
Jesus ever responded from the heart – from God’s heart, the God who loves people instinctively. He does not see strangers and sinners. He sees God’s beloved children, the bride he cherishes.
Such a God we discover when we “Come and See.”